twostepn2001 Posted June 6 Posted June 6 Here is a video that brought back lots of memories for me. The farm l grew up on was about a mile from a crop duster's dirt strip. His name was Leo, that's all l ever knew and that only because he had a huge sign next to the strip that said "Leo's Spraying Service". His plane was a silver Stearman. There was no office of any kind, just a bunch of barrels and a overhead fuel tank. And about 5 miles from my house was another dirt strip, this one operated by Lefty Gardner of Confederate Air Force and Fifi fame. There was 2, sometimes 3 Stearman's at his strip. What l remember about his planes was their colors. Case tractor colors, tan fuselage and orange wings. He also had a couple of old Ford pickups painted the same. Anyway, right after daylight l could hear both of them fire up those radial engines and soon take off. Lots of times they would fly over our house and see me in the yard waving at them. If they saw me, they would waggle their wigs and sometimes even turn around and buzz our house. The planes in the video are Agcats but the sound of a radial is the same as a Stearman. 3 Quote
New Englander Posted June 7 Posted June 7 A very good friend of mine and former colleague restores Stearmans. His personal one won best in class at Sun & Fun. Here's one of his restorations that I happen to have a picture of on this computer. Matt comes from a family of Pilots. His dad was TWA, one brother UA, another, who I also flew with, corporate, and another now a sim instructor due to medical issue. His daughter is well on the way having logged a couple hundred hours solo before she was old enough for a license. Since he and I are A&P mechanics with an interest in older planes it helped pass the hours on long international flights. 2 Quote
New Englander Posted June 7 Posted June 7 1 hour ago, Dave Downs said: Rare to see a Stearman that is not yellow! 😀 Yes. While many were blue fuselage with yellow wings or all yellow with a red stripe there were other less common schemes depending upon service and mission. The one above was customer request of a particular model I believe and an accurate presentation. Quote
twostepn2001 Posted August 4 Posted August 4 Just saw this on FB from the CAF: On August 3, 1971, 26 years and four days after being delivered to the USAAF, FIFI flew again for her trip home to the CAF. A CAF maintenance team arrived at China Lake on March 31, 1971, and in only nine weeks, with the help of more CAF volunteers, they restored all systems and replaced fuel, oil, and hydraulic hoses. The restoration process involved cannibalizing parts from other B-29s at China Lake, installing instruments, having new window bubbles made, and restoring controls to working order. After the CAF technicians ran the engines, tested propellers and landing gear, she was made ready to fly again by August 3. The crew had a permit to make a single ferry flight out of China Lake, although once it landed, the B-29 would be grounded. So the ferry crew took on enough fuel to fly non-stop 1,250 miles to CAF Headquarters, then in Harlingen, Texas, lifted off at 7:48 a.m. and in a six-hour, 38-minute flight, brought home the last flying B-29 Superfortress without incident. 5 Quote
twostepn2001 Posted August 26 Posted August 26 l just saw this video on youtube. Didn't know that anyone had got a 3rd B-29 airborne besides Fifi and Doc, even if it was temporary. lt happened in 1979 and 1980 so l figured that Randy would have at least mentioned it at one time or another but l don't remember him saying anything about it. Not a restoration but just enough to fly it to Duxford Museum in England. The video explains it. 1 Quote
twostepn2001 Posted September 2 Posted September 2 Experimental pic test: In one day, two-thirds of America's intercontinental bomber force was knocked out of commission, but not by any enemy. On Labor Day, 1 September 1952, a violent storm struck Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas, cutting across the B-36 Peacemaker flightline and maintenance areas. All 82 B-36 Peacemakers on the base were damaged, temporarily putting the entire 19th Air Division out of operation. At the time, Carswell's 7th and 11th Bomb Wings represented roughly two-thirds of Strategic Air Command's intercontinental bomber force. Additional B-36s at Convair's adjoining Fort Worth factory were also damaged. The response, dubbed Project FIXIT, began at dawn the next day. Carswell maintenance crews handled the least-damaged aircraft, specialists from the San Antonio Air Materiel Area tackled more extensive repairs, and the worst cases went across the field to Convair. The first B-36 returned to service within a week and nine more followed during the second week. Within a month, 51 bombers had been restored, and both Carswell wings were operational again. Repairs continued until 11 May 1953, when the last repairable storm-damaged B-36 returned to flying status. 1 1 Quote
jeeper61 Posted September 13 Posted September 13 52nd annual International Seaplane Fly-in returns to Moosehead Lake https://www.wabi.tv/2026/09/12/52nd-annual-international-seaplane-fly-in-returns-moosehead-lake-region/ Quote
jeeper61 Posted September 13 Posted September 13 Passengers view from the DC-3 Float plane https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1566489168553526 https://www.facebook.com/reel/1105859735300862 https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3123739711149211 1 Quote
twostepn2001 Posted October 18 Posted October 18 Prototype ag plane built at Texas A & M. Cockpit looks like a cross between armor and and a stealth... Looks like something built by a bunch of Aggies....lol Quote
clay neubauer Posted October 18 Posted October 18 55 minutes ago, twostepn2001 said: Prototype ag plane built at Texas A & M. Cockpit looks like a cross between armor and and a stealth... Looks like something built by a bunch of Aggies....lol That certainly doesn't look overpowered to carry much amount of a product load.... Quote
Rawleigh99 Posted October 18 Posted October 18 And where is the tank? It doesn't look like it would hold much volumetrically either. Quote
Rick G. Posted October 18 Posted October 18 32 minutes ago, Rawleigh99 said: And where is the tank? It doesn't look like it would hold much volumetrically either. For Proof-of-concept / Proto-type / Experimental use only. No N-Number on it. Dang that’s a big elevator control surface. 1 Quote
twostepn2001 Posted October 18 Posted October 18 43 minutes ago, clay neubauer said: That certainly doesn't look overpowered to carry much amount of a product load.... 31 minutes ago, Rawleigh99 said: And where is the tank? It doesn't look like it would hold much volumetrically either. Well, like l said, designed and built by Aggies..... lol Sort of like the "Aggie chainsaw".... 1 Quote
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